Category Archives: Tsimshian

This summer, we were able to take a team to Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. We were invited by people of the Haida nation and the Tlinget nation to come and work with them in their effort to restore their cultural heritage. In the past century, Christian missionaries, in an effort to civilize the people of southeast Alaska, took actions that disrupted and damaged their culture. Foursquare, in an effort to build, has taken the approach that since Christians broke it, Christians should fix it. We built a canoe pavilion in Klawock, a carving hut in Kasaan, and worked to complete a retreat center in Coffman Cove.

Canoe Pavilion in Klawock

The Carving Hut in Kasaan

Retreat Center of Coffman Cove

We were met with gracious hospitality. We are creating opportunities for the Gospel, opportunities that were lost after the first Christian encounter with Southeast Alaska. As one young Haida woman put it, “the Haida already believed in God, all you had to do was tell us who He is.”